Burrell denies affair with Princess Diana

LONDON, June 16 (UPI) -- Former British royal butler Paul Burrell is denying reports he claimed he had an affair with the late Princess Diana.

Ron Cosgrove, the brother of Burrell's wife, said Burrell claimed that having sex with the princess was part of his "royal duties." Cosgrove also was quoted by the News of the World as saying Burrell told him he once saw Queen Elizabeth II naked.

Burrell insisted to the Daily Star newspaper, however, that there is "not one shred of truth pertaining to my service with the princess, or Her Majesty the Queen."

"Myself and my wife Maria feel tremendously sad and hurt that he has resorted to such vengeance," Burrell said. "Anyone who knows me, who knew the princess and understands the boundaries and decencies of royal service, as well as the integrity and trust which exist within our working relationship at Kensington Palace, will know just how fanciful, distasteful and malicious these claims truly are."

"I am mortified and hugely embarrassed at the claims attributed to my brother Ron. I disassociate myself with everything that he is reported to have said," Maria Burrell told the Star. "It is, perhaps no coincidence that these claims have surfaced just three weeks after he asked, via a voicemail, for money."